bit of his memory he hasn't rubbed out yet. I did as Hallett told us,
and forgot everything at once. I've even forgotten my translation for
to-morrow--it's gone entirely. Never mind: to obey is our first duty; to
labour for Peace comes only second."

"Labouring for peace--why, Brady, that's been your little task!"
exclaimed Vickers. "And a noble one"--here he put on the "West voice".
"Have you thought of it in that light, my boy? To labour for peace! We
might all do worse. Conceive, for instance, of working for love!"

Jack laughed noisily, and called Vickers "a silly old loony". But he
blushed at the same time. And he went to sleep that night feeling
uncommonly hopeful.

When, in short jerky phrases, he broke to Hannah the plan he had
devised, the maid was so grateful and "took aback", as she said, as to
become for the moment half-hysterical; but soon rallying her common
sense, she sat down and penned a note to her father, to accompany the
young gentlemen's communication. Hannah's spelling, handwriting, and
grammar were all very shaky, but it is a fact that Mr. J. Thompson,
Nurseryman, found her letter a help in throwing light upon the "formal,
business" document.

CHAPTER IX

LOST--A NAME

Of course Jack's task was only half accomplished. And the second half
was somewhat harder than he had anticipated. When in the morning he met
the day-scholars, they were not as eager for a reconciliation as he
would have liked to find them.

Mason had come armed with a handful of wild barley-grass, or "crawly",
as it was better known among the boys.

"_Dictee_ this morning," he said with a sly wink.

In Monsieur Blonde's class, dictation offered great possibilities to a
quick writer, with a supply of crawly. When heads are bent, what a
chance down the collar for a deft hand! And the Monsieur was very
short-sighted.

"I sit between Vickers and Green," Mason added.

"But look here, you must chuck that stuff away," cried Jack. He knew
that as a good-humoured joke an inch of crawly can be tolerated, but
when used in malice, nothing is more irritating. "Chuck it away! We've
all agreed to call _Pax_ now, _Pax_ for good and all."

"Oh, I dare say!" retorted Mason. "When our lives have been made a
burden for the last week! Who are the 'all' who've agreed, pray?"

"The whole lot of the boarders. They're ready to chum up right away.
Mason, you must agree! We've got to join forces over Saturday's job."

But Mason di